California Bans Plastic Grocery Bags In Latest Magic Bean Scam

"It's for the planet!"...or something.  California Governor Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown signed SB270 into law, making it illegal for retailers to use single-use, plastic bags.  Instead, stores will charge a ten cent per bag fee for paper bags. 

The starry-eyed fools that supported this steaming pile of crap claim that "most plastic bags end up in the ocean or landfills."  If that were true, why would it be so?  I'll tell you why; it's because people are lazy.  First of all, I don't believe the severity of their claims.  Most people have jumped on the recycling bandwagon already, reusing plastic grocery bags for other things, not to mention the fact that "single use" grocery bags are typically made from recycled materials.  The lazy minority that refuse to recycle are the cause of plastic making its way into landfills or the ocean.  California's typically misguided solution to lazy people is to ban the bags and increase costs; let's also not forget the jobs lost and other economic impacts (see here) of the huge hit the plastic bag industry will take.

Additionally, a recent analysis undertaken by Reason Foundation found that "Lightweight plastic bags constitute less than 1 percent of visible litter, represent only 0.4 percent of all municipal solid waste, and are not a major cause of blocked storm drains.  Banning them has practically no impact on the amount of litter generated, the amount Californians pay for waste disposal, or the risk of flooding." Reason's article goes on to discuss the real and measurable impact of alleged "reusable" bags.
Just when you think the discussion in California couldn't get any crazier, in an article from the San Diego UT (click here to read it)  supporters of the new law claim that, "Producers are responsible for the end of life impact of their products."  That's about the dumbest thing I've heard all week.  That's like saying that Jack Daniels is responsible for what your abusive step dad does when he gets liquored up. 

Well, since the uninformed voters that seem to make up the majority of California have elected a bunch of crooks and idiots to their state legislature, garbage like SB270 has been the norm.  Liberal control over the lives of the voting base continues to grow in California, where the state motto should be changed to, "If we can't tax it, ban it!"